Opera Scotland

Ariadne on Naxos 1954Glyndebourne Opera

Read more about the opera Ariadne auf Naxos

The 1954 Edinburgh Festival saw a seventh visit by Glyndebourne Opera. The complete novelty was by Rossini - Le Comte Ory. A work which was now a popular favourite, Mozart's Così fan tutte, was making its third appearance. The staging of Ariadne was not quite a novelty - the 1950 Glyndebourne Ariadne had offered the fascinating original 1912 version, with the abbreviated Molière play Le bourgeois gentilhomme. 1954 now saw the more conventional format, complete with Prologue - and since the Composer was here played by Sena Jurinac in an incandescent performance, it was difficult to argue that the revision was not an improvement. Zerbinetta was the only operatic role performed in Scotland by the fascinating American soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs.

Our copy of the programme indicates that, for at least one performance, David Franklin was indisposed, with a resultant rotation of performers.